Promotion codes can be an effective tool to attract more bookings. Guests would appreciate saving on their reservation and your property could benefit from the increase in interest — a win-win situation!
To create a promotion code, go to Setup > under the Enhanced selling options heading, click on Set up promotions.
How do promotion codes work?
Promotion codes allow guests to book with a discount by entering a code in your direct booking engine. When guests enter the promo code along with their search criteria in the booking engine, they are able to view and book the linked rooms.
⚠️ Promotion codes set on your Little Hotelier front desk will only work for your direct booking engine. If you want to set promo codes in your channels, you will need to create them in your channels’ extranets and they will usually only work on each channel’s booking engine.
💡 You can set up a rate plan to show only when a promotion code is entered on your direct booking engine as long as the field Show only when a linked promotion code is entered is selected. Do you want to know how to create a rate plan and where to find the Show only when a linked promotion code is entered tick box?
How promotion codes work after they are set up?
As long as at least one promotion code is created, a field where your potential guests can enter the promotion code will appear on your direct booking engine.
When your guests enter a valid promotion code in your direct booking engine, it will show the selected rate plans with the discount you chose for the promotion code.
💡If the promotion was set with the option Show discount on booking summary, the booking total will be displayed before finishing the booking, under Room charges, as Promotional discount.
Why do I need to create a promotion code?
Creating and using promotion codes can benefit your property in the following ways:
They make guests feel special: promotion codes can make potential guests feel like they are being gifted an exclusive offer.
They create a sense of urgency to book for special holidays/events: by creating promotion codes for Valentine 's Day, Easter, Summer, Christmas, Black Friday, etc., potential guests will be encouraged to take immediate action so that they don't miss out on a limited-time discount.
They can help retain customers : special loyalty promotion codes can attract guests that have stayed with you to come back and become frequent customers.
How can I advertise my promotion code?
You can advertise a promo code through the following methods:
Distributing it through your pre-arrival or post-departure e-mails, to increase your repeat customers.
Posting them regularly on your social media pages, official website, and newsletter to grow followers and potential guests.
💡You can also use your direct booking engine banner to offer a promotion code.Sharing them through advertisements via the Internet, newspapers, television, radio, billboards, etc.
💡 To make your advertisements more effective, you can offer an exclusive price that is valid only when potential guests contact you through the advertisement.
➕ It is best to tie your codes to temporary offers only available for a specific time period and let potential customers know when they will expire.
⚠️ Promotion codes do not have a limit of how many times they can be used. Once a guest has access to a promotion code they can keep using it as long as the promotion is active on your direct booking engine. Your direct booking engine is unable to recognise whether someone browsing your booking engine has previously booked a room in your property in the past; therefore, it is not possible to set promotion codes that can only be used by people who have never booked with you.
Promotion codes FAQ
Can I set restrictions for promotion codes?
Sometimes you may wish to create a promotion code that is only valid if a guest stays for a set number of nights. For example, a promotion code with a discount would only be applicable if a guest booked for 2 nights or more and used the code.
Technically speaking, promotion codes do not have restrictions on their settings; however, there is a way around it! Only rate plans can have restrictions set. You can create a new rate plan that has the restrictions you need for that promotion and then apply the promotion code to that rate plan.
For example, if you need a promotion code “LongStaySpecial” to only be applicable for a guest stay of 2 nights or more, you can:
Create a new “Long-stay special” rate plan for the applicable room.
Apply to the “Long-stay special” rate plan a minimum stay of 2 for the whole calendar.
To prevent guests without the promotion code from seeing the “Long-stay special” rate plan in your direct booking engine, you can set it on the rate plan settings to only Show up when the promotion code is entered.
Can I use promotion codes to provide links to my direct booking engine that show specific room types or rate plans?
Yes! You cannot stop showing the rest of your rate plans, but you can use promotion codes to choose what rate plans you want to display first and create URLs to show specific room types or rate plans first.
💡 Do you want to learn how to do this? Check out this space: Connecting your booking engine to your website.